A team of workers from Jaguar Land Rover have been working on an evironmental project at Melling Primary School

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WHEN James Apter passed away last September after a battle with leukaemia, his classmates and teachers at Melling Primary School were determined the nine-year-old would not be forgotten.

They erected a plaque in the school, wore wristbands in his memory and have established a friendship cup in James’s name, which will be given out every week to the most deserving pupils.

Touched by their kindness, James’s mum and dad, Kim and James, decided they wanted to give something back – and this week a 12-strong team from Jaguar Landrover, where James works, arrived at the school to create a new outdoor seating area and make other environmental improvements.

“James loved school and all his teachers,” smiles Kim, 48. “He had really nice friends and they all looked after him, right through to the dinner ladies who made sure he took his medication.

“Everyone at the school has been amazing. They kept in touch when James was in hospital having his treatment and held fundraising days for us.”

James, from Melling , managed to lead a normal life despite being born with cystic fibrosis but, in the cruellest of blows, was diagnosed with acute myloid leukaemia in April last year.

He received a bone marrow donation from older brother Phillip but his condition deteriorated.

After fighting for life for eight weeks in intensive care he passed away at Alder Hey children’s hospital on September 8, surrounded by his family.

On the day of James’s funeral, his school closed for half a day as a mark of respect.

Pupils and teachers lined the pavements outside and covered the hearse carrying James’s coffin in flowers as it drove past.

“It was such a beautiful thing to do,” adds Kim, who has two other sons, Phillip, 23, and Michael, 22.

“It showed how popular and loved James was. We can’t thank them enough and we wanted to do something nice for them.

“James was a fighter and such a friendly, caring little boy.

“He looked after himself so well with his cystic fibrosis and to get leukaemia as well is so unfair.

“He was so funny and would talk to everybody. Even through his treatment, he was always smiling and joking with the nurses.”

When James senior, 50, started work at Jaguar in February, he learned the Halewood carmaker sends workers to help with charity and community projects and asked his bosses if they would consider Melling Primary.

He was stunned when more than 40 colleagues came forward to volunteer.

Their tasks included removing brambles and nettles to give children more room to play and planting fruit trees and shrubs.

“Kim and James have been very generous in asking Jaguar to come and help out,” says Melling Primary headteacher Chris Mitchell.

“James was very well-liked and the children were devastated when he died.”

His classmates decided The James Apter friendship cup should stand for being a good friend, helpfulness and never giving up – all qualities Mr Mitchell says James shared.

“The friendship cup represents exactly who James was,” he says. “He was genuine, warm, impossible to dislike and had a great sense of humour.

“We hope to be able to send a book of all the cup winners to Mr and Mrs Apter every year.”

Since James’s death, his parents have raised £4,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust by selling wristbands and sockmonkeys, each one made with love in memory of their son.

They now plan to set up the James Apter Friendship Fund to help buy toys and gifts for young cancer patients in Alder Hey.

“We want to honour his memory,” Kim explains. “Although James passed away because of cancer, cystic fibrosis was closest to our hearts. But we want to do something for oncology as well.

“James was buried with a little black doggy toy we bought him when we were on holiday in Jersey.

“He was always holding it and we’d like to buy some of them for the hospital.

“James always worried about everyone else so we think he would love that.